Console Generations - Is It Still A Thing, or Are We at the End of the Line?

[Syaoran Li]

Better question: who dies next?

That is a tough call.

If I had to guess which console company will go the way of Sega and Atari, it'd be a toss-up that could go either way.

Sony would seem to be the most likely choice, given the bungling of the Playstation Classic's release in the West and more importantly, their new censorship policies regarding sexuality could trigger a backlash against them from actual gamers and even normies who don't want PG-13 level fanservice being censored like this was Victorian England or something. The whole "Get Woke, Go Broke" meme exists for a reason. The PS4 is doing very well right now due to a somewhat lower price than the Xbox One and Microsoft's mismanaged marketing when they launched the Xbox One, but Sony could easily fuck up the PS5's launch the way things are looking.

They came close to losing it all with the PS3's release back in 2006-2007, but that was only because of the hefty price tag at launch. That was easily mitigated (although we lost backwards compatibility with PS1 and PS2 games because of it) however a messed up launch due to ideological policies and the general fuckery most major gaming companies do these days may cause them to lose it all.

And I say this as a Sony fan. However, even with their recent bout of idiocy, I doubt the Playstation brand will bite the dust any time soon.

Microsoft is less likely to fold on their consoles for the simple reason that their Xbox stuff is a drop in the bucket compared to their other business ventures such as Windows. Even when they fuck up on the Xbox, Microsoft will always make far more money than Sony and Nintendo combined. That being said, a particularly disastrous launch of a new Xbox console could be enough to shutter their video game department and just keep making money off of their Windows stuff, but even that is highly unlikely.

Of the three console companies, I think that Nintendo is the least likely to fold. I personally dislike Nintendo outside of their classic NES and SNES stuff, but I have to admit that they are a resilient company despite having been the kiddie short bus of console gaming since at least the early 2000's. Despite being a company that has all its eggs in one basket and has no real assets outside of their video game consoles and franchise IP's, and despite their history of being awful towards third-party developers, they still manage to keep going on and they have the most devoted fanbase of the main three console brands. Even when one thinks Nintendo is on their way out, they get a second wind.

When the Gamecube ended up being a third-string console lacking behind the PS2 juggernaut and the original Xbox, everyone thought that Nintendo's next console (at the time known as the Revolution) would be their last. But then the Wii came out and won that generation's console war without even trying. Despite the Wii being a shitty console whose library was almost entirely comprised of kiddie games and gimmicky sports titles, it sold like hotcakes due to its very low price (especially compared to the initial price of the PS3 at launch), a novelty gimmick that hadn't really taken off on consoles at the time, and clever marketing.

The Wii U was also underwhelming but then Nintendo caught their second wind with the Nintendo Switch, which actually had a gimmick that holds up, a console that can double as a handheld. Plus, Nintendo has been warming up to third-party developers a lot more than they had in the past, which may help them gain an edge in the future and grow their fanbase outside of the Nintendo core brands. And to Nintendo's credit, they seem to be loosening their censorship policies while Sony is getting stricter with them.

Honestly, Nintendo is like a cockroach, you can't keep them down. When it comes to the current console brands, they're going to be the first ones in and the last ones out

 

[Alfons Schmitler]

Better question: who dies next?

No one. The big 3 are perfectly adapted to their niches.
Sony got the big AAA movie "game" market covered.
Nintendo got the Kids, Casuals and Autists in their pockets.
and Microsoft is well, fucking Microsoft. They got so much money they could keep the Xbone divison alive for shits n giggles.

 

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

Xbox is likely to end up like Sega and not make consoles for more than two generations more. As a custom firmware consolefag, their consoles don't even have any real modding right now and the PS4 is already deep into 5.05 and higher being soon. It's a dying console. No really popular exclusive titles, low quality AAA ports, and nobody is fucking using the Xbox One X but weirdos and completionists. Though many people own the PSPro over the PS4 basic/slim. It's been popular for the company.

However, Sony will soon make a console that's gonna end the game. Some theorise RyZen will be in next gen consoles and it's a really interesting and powerful piece of ARM hardware, but there's a chance Sony is vying for exclusivity with it. This is just theory though, I can only assume Nintendo and Nvidia are partners now and Xbox is tagging along with Nvidia.

Oh, and console generations will never truly end. There will always be better tech.
Nintendo ain't changing their formula.
Sony's just playing it safe after an expensive experimental console and now a generation definer.

 

[Sperglord Dante]

I did say something about comparable prices earlier, but a quick Google search says... well, it depends on who you ask, and define "comparable," and how much research and work are you willing to do to build it as cheaply as possible? I see articles claiming it's possible to roughly match the price and power of consoles, but you're probably going to pay more upfront with a PC which is why people think it's the more expensive option. Even if it saves you money in the long run.

The problem of building a 1:1 equivalent is that you're still getting an inferior overall experience since videogame consoles run barebones custom made OS to get every drop of power out of the hardware and you can't match that with windows/linux (unless you're running an insanely optimized linux distro, maybe) so you'd actually have to use higher specs for a 1:1 experience.

Another thing to note is that console makers can cut costs because of economy of scales i.e. buying 500,000 gpus makes them individually cheaper than ordering 1 from the maker's site, not to mention producing their own components is even cheaper. And even then consoles themselves aren't very profitable, they're typically sold on loss. But then again R&D and publicity raise their production costs, so it's hard to measure how much money is their hardware worth on their own.

 

[Just Some Other Guy]

The problem of building a 1:1 equivalent is that you're still getting an inferior overall experience since videogame consoles run barebones custom made OS to get every drop of power out of the hardware and you can't match that with windows/linux (unless you're running an insanely optimized linux distro, maybe) so you'd actually have to use higher specs for a 1:1 experience.

Another thing to note is that console makers can cut costs because of economy of scales i.e. buying 500,000 gpus makes them individually cheaper than ordering 1 from the maker's site, not to mention producing their own components is even cheaper. And even then consoles themselves aren't very profitable, they're typically sold on loss. But then again R&D and publicity raise their production costs, so it's hard to measure how much money is their hardware worth on their own.

Another issue with comparing the two is when you build a "gaming" computer it's not just a console. It can do infinitely more tasks than a console. If you're on a console level budget and want to build a pc, you really have to factor in what all a computer can do for you. If not, then a console will always be cheaper and simpler.

 

[cummytummies]

I think we are definitely moving toward a subscription model type of business environment. Maybe there will be a Playstation 6, not discounting it, but the evolution is such that eventually there will an "Xbox", "Playstation" and a "Nintendo" that will play your games, and hardware upgrades are akin to buying a larger TV to watch the same streamed content on.